Fondue

Happy Anniversary! Brian and I have been married exactly two years as of today. Two whole years! In those two years, we have adopted exactly 1 dog, captured numerous rogue lizards in our house, and bought a boat. Seems like a very successful (and productive) two years to me.

Brand new Stella - May 2009 - she had
so much energy that the only time
we got a decent picture was when she slept.

We semi-celebrated last night. Last night we had a special dinner. We will continue the party tonight with gift exchanges and a brief lighting of the unity candle. You’re only concerned with dinner, I know. I like food too.

April 2009 - Ready to kneal to the cheese in defeat

Last night I made fondue. Fondue reminded us of our honeymoon where we spent some time in Amsterdam. While there, we happened upon cheese heaven. We had a fondue dinner and it was ridiculously rich and filling. I like to say that we were defeated by the cheese. I mean, look at that!




This is the second time I made fondue. It’s easy. You should try it. The fondue pot is totally optional. Here’s the road map to cheese heaven:

Brian not ready to admit defeat,
but he would give in not much later


Cheddar and Beer Fondue
Serves 4 (Or serves one Brian and one Krista with a little left over).
Ingredients
1 sack shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/4-1/3 pound Gruyère cheese, shredded (4-6 ounces)
1 rounded tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 cup German lager beer (I actually used Stella)
2 tablespoons spicy brown mustard
A few drops of hot sauce
A few drops of Worcestershire sauce
For serving:
broccoli
bread (like a baguette or Italian loaf of whatever looks good that day), cubed

Road Map:
Combine cheeses in a bowl with flour. Add beer to a small pot and bring up to a bubble over medium heat. Reduce the heat to simmer and add cheese in handfuls. Stir constantly, melting the cheese in batches. Stir in a figure-eight pattern with wooden spoon. When the cheese has been incorporated fully, stir in the mustard, hot sauce and Worcestershire sauce. Transfer fondue to warm small crockpot (or a fondue pot if you are fancy enough to have one).

In a pot, bring 2 water to a boil and blanch the broccoli for 2-3 minutes, then drain.

Smoother the bread and broccoli in the cheese and enjoy. Do not let the cheese defeat you!